This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TMAG.2015.2441295, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

Design and Fabrication of High Efficiency Magnetostrictive Energy Harvester

for High Impact Vibration Systems
Baiping Yan1*, Chengming Zhang2, Lili Li2
1
The State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin
E-mail: d_enip@163.com

structure of magnetostrictive/electromagnetic can lead to both

Abstract—This paper presents the design and stress load and magnetic field changes in magnetostrictive
fabrication of a vibration energy harvester based on giant materials with environmental impact, and its harvester will
magnetostrictive material, which consists of one generate more electrical power.
coil-wound Terfenol-D rod with a Permanent Magnet (PM) In this paper, an air-gap-adjustable vibration energy
and air gap in its each magnetic circuit, and the PM array harvester based on magnetostrictive material is presented. The
on the part of cap amplifier. In this design, cap amplifiers cap amplifiers and variable air-gap are designed to increase its
and variable air-gap are used to increase harvesting effect harvesting effect. The structure is designed and a prototype is
of system under environmental impact. Modeling and fabricated; and static analysis of harvesting effect is performed.
simulation are developed and performed to validate the This new harvester has a larger harvesting effect, and can be
concept. Relation of magnetic field in Terfenol-D rod is safely used in the high impact situation.
derived, its uniformity and intensity are analyzed. Then,
principal design parameters of the harvester, air gap and II. STRUCTURE OF HARVESTER
cap amplifiers are determined, and its static analysis of
harvesting effect is performed. In addition, a prototype is The structure of vibration energy harvester based on
fabricated and tested. The magnetostrictive-based magnetostrictive material is shown in Fig. 1. In this structure,
vibration energy harvester can generate larger voltage and cap amplifiers are processed by non-magnetic material
power than conventional smart harvesters, and they can be (1Cr8Ni9Ti), the shell is made by a high-permeability material
safely used under the impact up to 20-30 MPa. (10# steel). Magnetostrictive material fixed in the middle by a
Index Terms—vibration energy harvester, solenoid coil, which is used to pick the changes of magnetic
magnetostrictive material, air-gap-adjustable structure induction in Terfenol-D rod. A Permanent Magnet (PM) and
air-gap-adjustable array on each part of cap amplifiers are
I. INTRODUCTION used to increase its harvesting effect.
Vibration energy harvester can turn the mechanical energy
into electrical energy to supply sufficient power for wireless
devices [1-2]. Self-powered sensor nodes with smart structures
(piezoelectric or piezomagnetic harvesters) that utilize
environmental vibration energy to meet the dynamic power
requirement, have broad applications, in particular, structural
health monitoring.
Currently, piezoelectric mechanism is widely used in
vibration energy harvesting technology. Various structures of
piezoelectric energy harvesters were proposed for
self-powered systems [3-4]. However, the research regarding
the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester used in the
a) Structure of harvester
situation of high impact (compressive stress σ ≥ 20 MPa)
systems, such as impact vibration of human or vehicle
activities on walking platform, highway and bridge, railway
rail, etc. is still in its infancy. With consideration of
piezomagnetic effects, magnetostrictive materials, such as
TbDyFe alloy and FeGa alloy, are more suitable to vibration
energy harvesters in the application of high impact. Hence,
using magnetostrictive materials to develop power generating
floor systems has received more attention, but still under
development. The disadvantage of traditional magnetostrictive
harvesters is the low power density (magnitude of △B/△σ
about 0.005-0.01 T/MPa) [5-8]. b) Prototype of harvester
Magnetostrictive/electromagnetic hybrid configuration shows Fig. 1. Structure of harvester based on Terfenol-D rod
relatively high power density and efficiency, especially in the In this structure, the axial height of cap amplifier changes
huge transient impact situation. Furthermore, combined under the environmental impact, leads to the increase of air

0018-9464 (c) 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TMAG.2015.2441295, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

gap, to cause the magnetic field in Terfenol-D rod decrease, so Rg Rg

that it can increase the magnetic induction in Terfenol-D rod.
The magnetostrictive harvesting effect is shown in Fig. 2. △B Rm Rm
is the change of magnetic induction in traditional structure, Rrod
△H* and △B* are magnetic effects in this structure. Compared RPM RPM
with the traditional structure, harvester presented above can
have more changes of magnetic induction under vibration FPM FPM
impact, to generate more electrical power. Rg Rg

1 Fig. 3. Magnetic circuit of harvester.

Magnetomotive force F in each circuit can be formulated as

0.8
1 1
F =  Φ i ⋅ Ri = ( RPM + Rm + Rg + Rrod ) ⋅ Φ rod = FPM (4)
2 2
磁磁B (T)

0.6
0.4
0.2
0MPa
10MPa
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
磁磁磁磁 (A/m)
x 10
Fig. 2. Harvesting effect in magnetostrictive material
III. ANALYSIS AND FABRICATION OF HARVESTER
A. Mathematic Function of Magnetostrictive Material
Magnetic induction will occur when magnetostrictive
material is subjected to magnetic field and compressive stress,
its dependence can be described by the following
piezomagnetic equation
*
B = d 33σ + μσ H
It is shown in equation (1) that magnetic induction B is
controlled by both magnetic field H and compressive stress σ.
Considering the short-time (△t) effect of vibration, the change
of magnetic induction can also be described as
ΔB ( Δσ , ΔH ) = d 33
*
⋅ Δ σ + μ σ ⋅ ΔH
△σ and △H are changes of input stress and magnetic field load
in △t, respectively. As stated in equation (2), both input
compressive stress and magnetic field can be changed to
design new energy harvesters. In addition, in a structure, if
compressive stress and magnetic field can induce similar
effects in the changes of magnetic induction, more value of
magnetic induction and electric power will be generated. Thus,
it will also be a great idea for the design and construction of
larger power vibration energy harvester.
Under the short-time △t, induced voltage V from the pick
coil can be expressed as
Δψ rod NSrod ΔBrod
V= = = NSrod (d33*
⋅ Δσ / Δt + μ σ ⋅ ΔH / Δt ) (3)
Δt Δt
where △Ψ is magnetic flux change in the pick coil, N is the
turns of coil, and Srod is the cross sectional area of Terfenol-D
rod. It is noted from equation (3) that the induced voltage can
be generated by changes in magnetic induction B with
compressive stress and magnetic field.
B. Magnetic Circuit Analysis of Harvester
Fig. 3 presents the magnetic circuit through which magnetic
flux passes the mentioned harvester structure shown Fig.1. F
represents magnetomotive force, and R is the magnetic
resistance.
Ф is the flux of magnetic circuit, RPM, Rm, Rg, Rrod are the
magnetic resistance in PM, high-permeability steel, air-gap,
Terfenol-D rod, respectively. Magnetic flux related to flux
density B is equal to flux density multiplied by integral of
cross-sectional area S, shown in equation (5)
12 Φ rod = Brod ⋅ S rod = μ0 μ r H rod S rod (5)
4
Magnetic resistance R and magnetomotive force of PM can be
expressed as
R = l ( μ0 μr S ) (6)
FPM = H c ⋅ lPM (7)
l is the length of magnetic circuit, μ0 is the air permeability,
μr is the relative permeability of rod, and Hc is the coercive
force of PM.
Parameters of magnetic circuit could be calculated by
(1) equations (4)-(7), and the magnetic field in harvester
mentioned above can expressed as
FPM / ( μ0 μr Srod )
H rod =
1 1
RPM + Rm + Rg + Rrod (8)
2 2
(2) kH c
≈
1
μr Srod / S PM + μr lg Srod / ( S g lPM ) + lrod / lPM
2
In equation (8), due to the larger value of relative
permeability in the shell, the magnetic resistance Rm of shell
can be neglected. Also, due to the lower value of relative
permeability in Terfenol-D rod and air-gap, leakage of
magnetic flux in harvester is obvious. In equation (8), k is the
corresponding correction coefficient of magnetomotive force,
which can be estimated through finite element analysis of
harvester. The changes of magnetic field in rod with air-gap
adjust can be formulated as
ΔH rod =
kH c
(9)
1
μr S rod / S PM + lrod / lPM + μr S rod / ( S g lPM ) ⋅ Δlg
2
As shown in equation (9), in order to obtain a larger value
of △Hrod, the values of lrod/lPM, Srod/SPM, lg/lPM, Srod/Sg in the
structure should be optimized.
Considering the leakage of magnetic flux in the circuit,
suitable value of lrod/lPM should be selected; 1-2 will be good
for above structure. Similarly, in order to obtain a larger
magnetic field in rod without saturation, value of Srod/SPM
should be controlled to be about 1. Taking all these values into
equation (9) for analysis, larger values of lg/lPM and Srod/Sg

0018-9464 (c) 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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should be selected to generate more magnetic induction and 45

induced voltage in Terfenol-D rod. Srod/Sg=1

Magnetic field intensity H (kA/m)

Srod/Sg=2
C. Finite Element Analysis of Harvester 40 Srod/Sg=3
Srod/Sg=4
Fig. 4 is the finite element model of harvester, used to
analyze magnetic field intense H in Terfenol-D rod. The 35
numerical results of harvester are given in Table. 1. Structure
parameter of Terfenol-D rod is ϕ15*40, and its relative
permeability is 9. Coercive force of PM is 880000A/m, and 30
remanence is 1.18 T. The intensity and uniformity of magnetic
field in rod are analyzed, and influence of air gap on the 25
magnetic field is also investigated. The simulation results are 0 1 2 3
Length of air-gap (mm)
4 5

shown in Figs.5- 6. Fig. 6 Intensity of magnetic field in harvester

Fig. 6 is the simulation results of magnetic field in the

harvester with different air gap. It is observed from equation
(9) that Srod / ( S g lPM ) is an important parameter in energy
harvesting application. Also, the results indicated that value of
coefficient k is about 0.28 in this design. As shown in Fig. 6,
the larger value of Srod/Sg has more significant influence on
magnetic field intensity when the air gap changes in the region
0~1 mm. Thus, from the analysis of the proposed structure,
0-5 mm for air gap, Srod/Sg＝2 and lPM＝0.5lrod are selected to
control the leakage flux in the harvester.
a) FE model of harvester b) Magnetic induction B in XY plane
Fig. 4 Finite element analysis of harvester D. Cap Amplifier Design in Harvester
Table 1. Values of harvester Cap amplifier designed in harvester can help increase the
Parameter lrod/lPM Srod/SPM lg/lPM Srod/Sg strain in Terfenol-D rod and disc spring induced by
environmental impact. To obtain 0-5mm change of air gap, a
Value 2 0.8 lg /20 2 suitable cap amplifier is needed. ANSYS software is used to
optimize the structure of cap amplifier, and the parameters of
It can be seen from Figs. 5-6, the air gap changes magnetic cap amplifier in the harvester are given in Tab. 2. The
field in both intensity and uniformity. In Fig. 5, Hmax is max magnification of cap amplifier shown in Fig. 7 is up to cotθ =
magnetic field in the axial of Terfenol-D rod, the uniformity of 5.68, and its structure can stand stress up to 160 MPa.
magnetic field decreases with increasing the air gap, and the
end part of magnetic field in rod is lower than the middle one.
Also, the magnetic field ranging from 0.95 to 0.98 in
Terfenol-D rod is very uniform.
1

0.99
Fig. 7 Structure of displacement amplification mechanism

0.98 Table 2. Value of displacement amplification mechanism

H/Hmax

Parameter t0 (mm) t1(mm) t2(mm) a(mm) Θ(°)

0.97
Value 6 40 52 0.8 10
0.96
lg=0
lg=1.5 IV. HARVESTING ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
0.95 lg=3
lg=5 Compared with the traditional structure, the harvester
0.94
0 10 20 30 40 proposed in this study is capable to show high power density,
Axial length of rod (mm) efficiency, and more electrical power. The experimental
Fig. 5 Uniformity of magnetic field in harvester results of harvesting effect in Terfenol-D rod under
environmental impact are given in Tab. 3. Without impact, the
air gap in both harvesters is 0 mm, with 0 MPa compressive
stress and 43.1 kA/m basis magnetic field. △σ is the input
compressive stress on Terfenol-D rod, △B1 is the change of
magnetic induction in the traditional structure, and △B2 is the
change of magnetic induction in the structure shown in Fig. 1.
It can be observed from Tab. 3 that the structure proposed in

0018-9464 (c) 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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this paper is able to obtain larger magnetic induction, T

1 V 2 (t ) 2
T /2
Vm2 4 N 2 S 2
T 0 R0 V
2
Pout = dt = (t )dt = = ⋅ ΔB 2 (12)
especially under compressive tress of 5-20 MPa, and its power R0T 0
3R0 3R0T 2
density △B/△σ can be up to 0.024 T/MPa.
Table 3. Comparison of experimental results of magnetic induction
From equation (12), it is shown that the output of electrical
power in air-gap-adjustable harvester is larger than the
△σ(MPa) 5 10 15 20 25 30
traditional structure, and its value can be easily up to
△B1(T) 0.03 0.07 0.15 0.23 0.27 0.31
Volt/Watt (V/W) magnitude.
△B2(T) 0.12 0.23 0.31 0.37 0.41 0.44

Fig. 8 is a typical induced voltage in the experimental test V. CONCLUSIONS

(10 MPa compressive load on the air-gap-adjustable harvester In this study, a new structure of vibration energy harvester
with 267 turns coil). It can generate 2.17 V (peak value) based on magnetostrictive material was presented. In the
induced voltage with 10 MPa impact. Also shown in Fig. 8, structure, cap amplifiers and variable air-gap were designed,
the induced voltage curve can be calculated as a triangle, in to increase its energy harvesting effect. The magnetic circuit
the time of 0-T/2, as and principal structure parameters were analyzed, and static
2 analysis of harvesting effect was performed. The
V= Vm ⋅ t (10) magnetostrictive-based vibration energy harvester fabricated
T
can generate V/W magnitude voltage and power, which were
The magnetic flux in harvester can be described as higher than conventional smart harvesters, and it can be safely
T used under the impact up to 20-30 MPa. Also,
Δψ = NS ⋅ ΔB =  Vdt = 0.5Vm ⋅ T (11) air-gap-adjustable structure was a new idea for vibration
0 energy harvesting technology. It was suitable to design
And its peak value of induced voltage can be expressed as magnetostrictive-based harvesters for huge and short-time
vibration excitations. The feasibility of its conceptual design
Vm = 2 NS ⋅ Δ B / T (12) was shown in this paper.
So the peak value of induced voltage in the harvester
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
depends on △B in rod and action time of impact. The peak
value of voltage in the traditional structure and
This work was supported by the National Preeminent
air-gap-adjustable structure are presented in Tab. 4. △Vm1 is
Youth Foundation (Grant No. 51225702) and the National
the experimental result of peak value in the traditional
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51407157,
harvester. △Vm2 and △Vm3 are the experimental and simulation
51307027).
results in the air-gap-adjustable harvester, respectively.
Without considering nonlinear effect in modelling, the
simulation results (△Vm3) are larger than experimental ones VI. REFERENCES
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△Vm1(V) 0.28 0.66 1.42 2.17 2.55 2.92
△Vm2(V) 1.13 2.17 2.92 3.49 3.87 4.15
△Vm3(V) 1.32 2.62 3.37 4.05 4.35 4.7

The output of electrical power can be calculated using the

following equation

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